Terminus
by Wombat Pestilence
Summary: Sequel to Dream of Revenge. The Omaticaya know peace and prosperity.  However like all things, peace and prosperity are relative, and Jake can never shed the fact that he is a warrior and those that pick up the sword are often forced to live by it.
1. Prologue

A/N: Im getting this up to sort of set up a teaser for this story. Im not sure how long it will be before I have the first real chapter up and this has been in my head for a while, so I really wanted it to be the prologue, and get people thinking about what might be happening in the story. Enjoy and as always, please REVIEW!

**Prologue**

At 186,282 miles per second, it takes light 1.3 seconds to reach the moon, 8.3 minutes to reach the sun, and by 16.1 hours it is has left Voyager 1 far behind it.

At 3.26 years, light will have traveled one parsec, no small distance in itself, being somewhere in the measure of 19 trillion miles.

One could extrapolate some feeble cognizance of such distances by imagining the act of skipping a rock across a pond…except, perhaps, imagine that pond to be the breadth of the Pacific Ocean.

Light skitters across the vast gulfs of space, sending ripples of photons into the farthest reaches of the void, until the waves of particles are stretched to a point where no energy remains, and the infinitesimal scraps of mass are tossed about and thrown away into the distance like dust upon the wind, or foam borne upon the ceaseless brine of a boundless sea.

Even those regions of observable space, which reside at distances so far from the mind of man that the very prospect of their being is of no great consequence to him, for the distances at which those desolate, wind blasted ferric masses stand is farther than any distance than any man will ever reach and even when those who are the most profound of thought bend their minds to imagining the expanses of this space, they cannot properly conceive of that cosmic chasm, and are left to their awe, ignorance and fear

Even those regions are doused in some infinitesimal, but no less incandescent, amount of light. It might be beyond the range of any organisms ability in translating the electromagnetic spectrum, but photons remain, borne there at 186,282 miles per second

However, one cannot travel at 186,282 miles per second. Nothing can. Well, except for light….in a vacuum.

Complex beings of solid matter and mass are doomed to forever explore the universe bound to that postulate put forth by Albert Einstein in his theory of special relativity: _E=m_

Bound by a quantum tether to the fact that light speed travel is unattainable….

While Einstein's body rotted away and his bones were ground to dust in mundane ecological nullification, the human race worked for the next two centuries on the propulsion systems that would help them to travel at faster and faster speeds through the black seas of the void, reaching distances farther and farther from Earth.

Distances so far that radio transmissions took hours and days, not minutes and seconds.

In the end of the 21st century (by human reckoning), the brightest minds in physics had finally made feasible the genesis of copious amounts of antimatter and less than 20 years later, the pinnacle intelligence of quantum mechanical engineering developed the first antimatter engine.

So it was, that by the middle of the 22nd century, the human race, borne upon the radioactive wings of antiproton annihilation and gamma rays, had stretched their minds and influence to the farthest it yet been, the closest stars to that of their own Sun….Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B.

It was by the twin lights of those nuclear spheres, that the eyes of those intrepid souls of the first manned, interstellar space flight, saw Pandora, like their forefathers of old, spotting the dark line of some distant country on the horizon, while tossed about on wrathful and blackened waves, pointing to it with a cries of fear and wonder.

So it was when man first set eyes upon Pandora.

And like the Norsemen who had braved the icy deeps of the Northern Ocean to come upon the New World, those interstellar voyagers sought harbor upon the cosmic shores of that pinnacle of life set amongst the black seas of infinity.

Like the Norsemen, they were turned back…hurled back to their ships and put back to toil upon the roiling seas from whence they came.

They had made the same mistake as their forbearers in assuming that this new realm was uninhabited and therefore their property uncontested

And just as archaeological evidence in Newfoundland showed, where cracked skulls and splintered bones bore the undeniable signs of brutal warfare, the bodies of human soldiers rot away in the lush, vibrant jungles of Pandora, with brightly feathered arrow shafts sticking from their ruined bodies.

There had been contest indeed for this new world the humans had claimed for their own.

The Norsemen were doomed to suffer the cruelty of the sea in their exile, all of them pointing the dragon headed prows of their ships towards the East, but only few of them ever stepping foot upon the soil of Scandinavia ever again.

But, the survivors of the Pandoran conflict made it home, after having spent six years in cryostasis, pondering their exile in the dreamscapes of subconscious thought.

Not all were silent though, not all were in slumber.

Those left awake had six long years to communicate with those on Earth. Six long years to brood and nurture their hatred and their defeat.

In six years, an antimatter driven starship, otherwise known as an interstellar vessel (ISV), can reach the Alpha Centauri system.

For the first time in its history, the human race tasted defeat. In no other instance in history, had another species driven back the relentless march of man's expansion.

A small hiccup in a much greater scheme.

One species does not reach the pinnacle of biological imperialism by relinquishing their supremacy at the first sign of a challenge or struggle.

No…..the human race had no conception of surrender or quarter when it came to the game of survival and conquest.

The would bear no challenger to their perceived dominion.

Just as Augustus swore vengeance against Arminius in uttering in a most odious tone "_legiones redde_" and just as Cato the Elder proclaimed in a thunderous voice full of unforgiving malice "_Carthago delenda est_"….

So it was that man, ruthless and rancorous, so bent on surviving with distinction, that only a distance at which waves of light burn out into mundane flutterings of matter could obfuscate and nullify his covenant of vengeance.

* * *

><p>AN: Not super suspenseful, but I hope it gets some of you hyped up about the story to come. The language in italics is latin legiones redde (give me back my legions), Carthago delenda est (Carthage must be destroyed). Augustus said 'legiones redde' after losing three entire legions to the Germanic tribes in the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, and Cato the Elder said his phrase in the Third Punic Ware after Hannibal had gotten through ransacking and pillaging the Italian peninsula. A little history lesson. If you guys are not familiar with the history or science im alluding to in this prologue, well , you know what to do...pick up a book and start learnin' . Take it easy.


	2. Haven

****A/N: Long time since I published anything. For that, I'm sorry. However, I never really meant to follow up on the prologue right away. I truly meant for that to be a sort of teaser for the story and for the story to officially get started at a different time (i hadnt fleshed out the entire plot yet). That time is now. Here is my first offering, albeit, a short one (especially short, considering the gap in my publishing history). Chapter 1. Enjoy...hopefully.

**Haven**

The cold incandescent light of the silent stars washed over the shores of the lake, setting the water alight with a soft blaze of molten, shimmering silver, and gently suffusing with the pale and burgeoning bioluminescence of the forest horizon.

Above the green lights of the forest, Polyphemus had not yet risen in the East, leaving Jake an uninhibited view of the boundless curvature above him.

He sat upon the sand of the shore, his golden eyes slowly wandering amongst the vast, cosmic fields, soaking in the image of each and every point of light that hung suspended, slowly burning away in the void.

In his silent observation, Jake's mind reverberated with the sense of awe he felt at that moment, and small waves of wonder crashed over his senses, with him almost being transfixed by the subtle beauty he was beholding.

For years now, he had been avoiding looking upwards, neglecting the majesty of the nightsky, too afraid of what he might see if he looked too hard.

But no longer could he ignore the winking lights above him…..in some strange way, they beckoned to him, or at the least their beauty did. Jake's eyes roamed the starlit vastness, feeling so diminished and cowered before the stupefying magnitude of the heavens, but at the same time, having some subconscious realization of how lucky he truly was, insignificant as he might seem.

Here he was, actually able to marvel and wonder at the cosmic tapestry above, while the vast majority of the universe spun aimlessly through the cold torrents of space, unaware of any purpose and devoid of sentience.

Here he was, comparatively safe on a haven, an island, safe from the raging elements of the great, dark ocean above him.

Ironically, it was the vast, seemingly incomprehensible nature of the stars, that made him reflect on his own life and realize the significance of the seemingly mundane machinations of causality that had brought him to this point, and he couldn't help but smile at the events of his life, especially those of which he considered to be part of his _true_ life…..

Jake considered his old life, spent as a human, to be an integral part of himself…but only here, on this world, had he truly become himself. He had not prospered as an individual, and his mind had not bloomed until a certain cerulean vixen had challenged him to _see_….

Jake was torn from his ponderous reverie when a sudden weight descended upon his shoulders, and two small hands clasped over his eyes, followed by bout of shrill laughter that dispelled the serene quiet of the night.

Jake leapt up, grabbing hold of the small wrists, acting completely on defensive instincts honed in close quarters combat, when the shrill voice cut through the fog of battle-hardened muscle memory.

"Sempul!"

Jake immediately relaxed, loosening his grip on the two wrists, and soothing the Marine part of Jake, the part that didn't like to be startled, back down within himself.

He breathed a sigh of relief, and his expression of startled shock quickly turned upwards in the curvature of a lopsided grin, and a gruff chuckle escaped his mouth.

"Just like your mother…..I could never hear her sneak up behind me either, you're getting too good at that."

Jake's statement was greeted with giggling, and this only made him smile wider, and he suddenly reached up and grabbed one of the small feet that perched on his shoulder, pulling it towards him, so he could hold it while he mercilessly tickled the underside.

Jake listened as his daughter hollered and whooped, writhing in mock agony over his onslaught. His heart danced with happiness to hear the sound, and he redoubled his tickling of her foot until her breath was coming in ragged bursts because she was laughing so hard.

Jake grinned.

"Had enough, Su'rxa...are you done sneaking up on your poor father?"

Su'rxa cried for mercy.

"Yes, sempul, yes! I won't do it again….please!"

Jake let out a rumbling chuckle, ceasing his ruthless assault on her foot and with a quick sweep of his arms, he lifted his young daughter over his shoulders and set her down in the sand, where he sat down beside her.

As Jake looked his daughter over, his paternal instincts fired up, and his grin faltered somewhat.

"What are you doing down here all by yourself?"

He pointed at Su'xra, who looked back up at him, seemingly not fazed by her father's concerns.

"You know you aren't supposed to leave Hometree by yourself, and especially at night…."

Su'xra's eyes grew big and she raised her hands to her fathers as she protested.

"But, Sempu, I didn't come down here by myself….San'ok walked down here with me, and then when we saw you sitting here, she told me to have some fun and pounce on you."

Jake's ears shot up and his brow furrowed in a look of slight confusion.

"Did San'ok say why she didn't want to say down here with us?"

Su'xra shook her head slowly.

Jake sat there for a moment, confused as to why Neytiri would walk all the way down here with Su'xra and then leave. It occurred to him, as he stared down at his daughter, that he was looking at a virtual copy of his mate.

Su'xra looked very much like her mother, especially in the face, where her nose was much more pronounced, and her ears were much longer, and more dexterous.

Su'xra stared right back at Jake with the same eyes as Neytiri's, and he could only account for the presence of eyebrows being one of the few physical characteristics his daughter shared with him.

As he was thinking this, Su'xra reached over and picked up her father's hand in both of hers.

Jake watched her curiously, wondering what she was doing, raising his brows questioningly.

Slowly, Su'xra paralleled her hand with that of her father's so that her smaller fingers matched his.

Suddenly, recognition dawned on Jake…..the fingers, always the fingers.

Su'xra stared silently at how her five fingers aligned perfectly, in smaller form, with those of her father's.

Jake dared not move, lest he disturb the air of inquisitive determination that seemed to surround his daughter. He just watched, smiling as he envisioned her mind trying to comprehend her heritage.

Su'xra looked slowly up at her father, seeming to forcibly tear her gaze away from their fingers.

"Sempul…..why do Thomas and Eytukan have fewer fingers and fewer toes than us?"

Jake grinned, gently stroking his daughter's hair with his other hand.

"Well, you're my daughter…you got those extra fingers and toes from me, just like your brothers got the number of fingers they have from your mother."

Jake paused before adding, softly but firmly:

"You've got a little more tawtute in you…"

Su'xra's eyes lit up as her gaze met her father's and Jake saw within her expression a look of unbridled fascination.

On several occasions, he had recounted to his children parts of his past, including the fact that he had been a Tawtute once upon a time, and that even though he was a Na'vi, even his true self was part Tawtute, in mind and body.

Su'xra looked back down at their touching hands, obviously trying to understand what her father had said, trying to reason out the means by which she shared in common traits with entirely different race….an entirely different species.

Jake silently shook his head, marveling at how much like Tommy she was, always asking questions, trying to understand everything around her.

Before she could lob any more questions his way, Jake quickly stood up, scooping up Su'xra as he went and setting her astride his shoulders.

Forgetting her questions, she let out a squeal of delight, unwittingly grabbing onto her father's ears in her glee.

"OW! Easy on the ears Su!"

* * *

><p>By the time Jake had made it back to the clearing at the base of Hometree, Su'xra had already fallen asleep atop her father's shoulders, her head gently lolling from side to side.<p>

Jake, being aware of this, took extra care to walk in gentle strides and to keep quiet so as not to wake her.

Silently, he moved about the clearing, quietly acknowledging the various clan members who were still awake, and navigating the clearing by the dwindling light of their dying campfires, eventually reaching the base of Hometree.

Reaching up, Jake softly lifted his daughter from his shoulders, and moved her so that he was carrying her in his arms.

Still sound asleep.

Jake smiled once more as he ascended the central, spiraling stair of Hometree's inner branches, cherishing the feeling of his daughter curled up in his arms, fast asleep.

A feeling which, in another time, he never envisioned himself experiencing.

But the warmth of the body in his arms spread throughout his own body, dispelling any room for negative introspection, and his mind surged with contented feeling of a father who sees his daughter safe and happy. It was a feeling that filled him with pride and overrode his senses.

When he came to his family's alcove, he was not surprised to see both of his sons, lying side by side, asleep on their moss mats.

However, he was somewhat surprised to see Moat, sitting alone in the corner of the alcove, quietly weaving a small ornamental headdress.

She looked up as he pushed aside the covering to the alcove entrance, smiling at the image of her grand-daughter asleep in the arms of her father.

Jake cracked a small grin of his own as he looked down at his slumbering payload, but his smile faded somewhat when he looked around and did not see the one person whom had not seen all afternoon, and had been wishing and expecting to see.

Neytiri.

Jake glanced over at Moat, gesturing towards his and Neytiri's moss bed and raising his eyebrows in questioning.

Moat understood that he was silently asking her where Neytiri was, and Moat merely pointed upwards towards the ceiling of the alcove.

Jake nodded, seeming to understand the meaning of her gesture.

Softly, he treaded across the space and tenderly laid Su'xra on a moss mat at Moat's feet, and wrapped a small covering over her body before standing back up.

Once more he looked questioningly down at Moat, pointing slightly towards the door, silently asking whether she was willing to look after the children for a little while.

Moat smiled, nodding and silently shooing him out of the door.

Jake gave her a smile in return, mouthing thanks to her.

Jake waited until he was out of the alcove before taking off at a light jog off of the central spiral of Hometree, heading higher into the uppermost terraces.

As he reached the end of a long but familiar, tunnel of vegetation, he quietly peeled back the layer of vines and wreathing leaves, which made up the secret door to an isolated platform of branches that looked out over the forest via a large opening in the foliage.

Lying on a small pad was Neytiri, her chest and shoulders gently rising in falling in the rhythm of sleep.

Quietly, Jake crept into the room.

He gently lay down next to his sleeping mate, putting forth every effort not to disturb her sleep.

Neytiri was a light sleeper, always had been.

In twelve years, Jake had learned exactly how to slip in and out of bed with her, without waking her up, much to her chagrin.

Twelve years of being her mate, Jake smiled intensely at the thought, and he could'nt restrain himself from leaning over and placing the slightest kiss on Neytiri's forehead.

At the sensation of his lips upon her forehead, Neytiri, halfway asleep, instinctively, and somewhat unconsciously, reach out and pulled herself into Jake, nuzzling her head into his chest, and wrapping her tail around his leg, a possessive gesture that Jake secretly loved.

Jake slowly wrapped his arms around his beloved mate, loving the sensation as his hands slid up her back. Rolling over gently, he laid on his back, bringing Neytiri over to lay with her head on his chest, and resting his head upon a knob in the branch he lay on.

From this angle, he look out through the opening in the platform, and he comfortably, but halfheartedly resumed his stargazing.

His mind kept slipping between the pathless wilderness of the firmament and Neytiri.

To him, both were entrancingly beautiful.

At that moment, a meteorite flashed into brilliance in the nightsky, as gravity and friction ground it to nothing in Pandora's atmosphere, all the while causing a fiery trail of light to spring forth across the early night. A shooting star.

Jake, having seen the brilliant but seemingly mundane spectacle, only registered the fiery tail in the sky, and he suddenly shot up, accidently dropping Neytiri's head to the floor as his eyes raced across the spot where he had last seen the fiery trail of the meteor.

Flickers of old fears flared into life within his conscious mind.

The memory of fiery ash…

The taste of sulphur in the air….

Jake shook his head, trying to dispel the fears, to banish them to the recesses of his mind, where despite his attempts to subdue them, they gnawed at his senses, his thoughts, his rationality, and his happiness.

With great mental strain, he chained the thoughts he had been avoiding for years, back into his subconscious.

He jumped slightly as two hands alighted upon his shoulder, and a kiss was planted in the crease of his neck.

Like magic, Jake's stress seemed to evaporate and be carried away on the breeze.

He closed his eyes and let out breath he hadn't been aware he was holding, in a long sigh

Glancing over, he saw Neytiri staring at him, now fully awake, her eyes filled with concern and loving worry. Her voice came out somewhat slurred and gravelly from sleep.

"My Jhake…..?"

However, Jake didn't feel like answering questions about the small episode he had just experienced.

In a maneuver to subdue her concerns and to distract himself from his own, Jake reached over, cupping Neytiri's jaw with one hand and planted a kiss upon her lips, releasing his remaining fears in that contact and sensation.

After several instense moments, Neytiri gently broke off the kiss and pushed Jake back to the floor of the platform.

Jake smiled rougeishly at her, and she giggled, slapping him on the forehead.

He howled in mock injury as he reached out and pulled her into his arms, back down to her former position, where her head lay upon his chest.

Neytiri glady complied, her arms circling over and under Jake's torso, and her tail once again pulling in gentle constriction on his leg.

Jake sighed once again, relishing the moment, and loving the fact that Neytiri was doing the same.

He closed his eyes, blocking out the stars…putting them and whatever they might bring out of sight and out of mind, just like he had been doing for the past twelve years.

* * *

><p>AN: Short, I know, but I really needed to go ahead and get something published. Hope you guys like it. Let me know if you do or dont! Review! Nothing is going to get me more excited about getting going on a new story than a fat inbox full of reviews (positive or negative). Really, its mentally straining to get the ball rolling on a story, to build the foundation of the plot. On that note...review. Take it easy.


	3. The One Brooding Warning

A/N: I wanted to get this chapter up. This one was hard for me to write. I hadnt actually thought this chapter through all the way, so it may seem a bit half baked, but it is what it is. Please enjoy, heres chapter 3. Review.

**The One Brooding Warning**

Jake awoke unceremoniously to the dark that precedes dawn, a point where the forest has dimmed its natural bioluminescence and the light of the coming sun has not yet risen to the edge of the horizon.

Dawn could not be more than two hours off.

He could not help but feel slightly guilty for abandoning Moat with the children, in what was supposed to have been a peaceful, if temporary, respite in Neytiri's and his secluded spot, rather than a full night.

He could only feel but so guilty.

Neytiri and he had not had a night to themselves in quite a while, and Jake could not deny how good it had felt.

Somewhat grudgingly, he pushed down those indulgent thoughts and resumed the countenance of his dutiful self.

The part of him that was father and olo'eyktan.

Tightening the grip he had on his still slumbering mate, Jake gently pulled his feet up, lifting himself up slowly, with Neytiri in his arms.

He felt her grip unconsciously tighten upon his neck, where she held onto him now, and he took a moment to look out through the opening in the foliage, to observe the silent horizon.

Nothing stirred out in the forest, nothing disturbed the surface of the lake, and nothing disturbed the flickering stars.

All was still; peaceful.

Jake let a sigh and shook his head, trying to placate his worrisome mind once more.

Turning, he made his way down into Hometree, careful and smooth in his stride.

When he reached the entrance to his alcove, he turned and used his back to push through the covering, turning once more as he went through to keep the coverlet from brushing too much against the sleeping form in his arms.

He took in the scene of his family, all sleeping peacefully, and he smiled to himself, savoring the profound sense of comfort he felt at seeing them safe and sound.

The moment struck some mental chord within him, and the shades of long-dormant fears that swam within the murky depths of his mind…..in that moment they were somehow transformed into a powerful sense of determination.

In that moment, the fears no longer pestered his happiness, but instead they somehow combined with his joy and his memories to fuse into a strange but virile strain of passionate love for his family. That love unleashed within him the sense of determination.

Determination to never let anything harm the people in the room in which he now stood.

He was their protector.

After standing there for several moments, and letting those thoughts seep into his consciousness, he quietly navigated the room and laid Neytiri down on their bed.

Jake arranged her legs so that she lay comfortably upon the bedding, and he pulled a barkcloth covering over her.

Standing up, he watched her for several moments, sending out loving thoughts through the bond, soothing her unconscious mind.

He leaned down once more, placing a kiss on her exposed cheek, standing back up quickly as Neytiri's unconscious arm snaked out, reaching for him, trying to pull him to her.

Jake stepped out of reach of the searching appendage, despite the fact that he wanted dearly to join her where she lay now, and enjoy the pre-dawn peace.

Straightening his jaw and his thoughts, he turned on his heel, remembering the words Grace had once told him.

"Village life starts early".

Jake suppressed the thoughts of Grace's memory and the lingering sorrow it brought and instead focused on the fact that he was olo'eyktan of the Omaticaya, and he led by example, which meant he needed to be the earliest.

So did his sons.

After walking over to where Thomas and Eytukan lay, he crouched down and reached out with both hands and shook each one's shoulder.

Jake could not help but grin as both of his sons stirred in their sleep, both of them swatting out with their hands to ward of their father's bothersome gesture.

Jake chuckled as quietly as he could, and suppressed his smile, putting on a countenance befitting a Marine drill instructor.

Again Jake reached out, but this time, he sharply flicked their ears, and put a hand over their mouths as they went to yelp in pain.

Jake smiled once more, but this time he infused grin with a glint of seeming malevolence he knew his sons would recognize.

He was rewarded by both Thomas and Eytukans' eyes snapping open and meeting the deviant gaze of their father's.

Both knew there was no escaping him.

Jake removed his hands from their mouths and stood up, gesturing that they do the same.

Grumbling and moaning slightly, they grudgingly rose to their feet, shuffling around, grabbing their bows and quivers, and heading for the door of the alcove.

Thomas accidentally stumbled into Eytukan, and a slight scuffle ensued at the doorway, each one perceiving the other to have attacked first.

Jake definitely could not help but grin at how the scene before him was stupefyingly uncanny to him and his brother Thomas rough-housing in their childhood home, and Jake promptly did the same thing his own father had done.

He swiftly reached out and smacked each one on the back of the head, and before they could recover, he gave them a swift shove out of the doorway of the alcove, shaking his head, trying to convey some sense of shame, but secretly doing it to hide his own amusement.

Unbeknownst to him, Neytiri had witnessed the entire scene, and had in fact been awake since Jake had picked her up earlier, but had relished the sweet gesture so much, that she had feigned sleep.

Now, she had watched through hooded eyes, the scene between her mate and her sons unfold.

Now that they had left, she could let her own smile of profound amusement creep onto her face.

Like father, like sons…...

* * *

><p>The sun had risen above the horizon by the time Jake came to a stop, his sons following several stops behind him.<p>

He looked out across the shimmering, golden surface of the lake from where he now stood on the far south shore, across from where Homtree stood.

There was a clearing between the water's edge and the treeline of the forest, and in this spot, the warriors and taronyu of the Omaticaya trained.

They honed their fighting skills, and especially their marksmanship with their bows.

"Father….what did you bring us down here so early for?"

Jake stood there for a second, as if considering an answer to Thomas's question.

Jake quickly assumed a stern expression before turning to his twin sons, who stood several paces behind him.

Jake pointed a finger between each of them; his voice was soft but firm.

"You are my sons…sons of the olo'eyktan of the clan."

Jake paused, his eyes flickering between the twins.

"But that fact doesn't give you any special privilege to lay about, while the rest of the taronyu either start training or go out hunting…they are not idle. They are doing their duty to the clan, and so will you."

Eytukan spread his arms wide, looking up at his father.

"But father, none of the other young hunters have to get up this early; none of them are out here training, so why do we have to be?"

Jake paused once more as he walked forward, placing a hand on the shoulder of each son.

He looked between them.

"You are my sons…and because of that, so much more will be expected of you, so much more will be asked, and I am trying to prepare you for that, to prepare you for the time when the clan looks to _you_ for guidance and leadership in times of trouble."

Jake paused to let his words sink in, and both of his sons stared back up at him, knowing there was more he had to say.

"Eytukan, you and Thomas are not any of the 'other' young hunters…..you are not doing this because the clan wants you to, you are doing because I want you to….you are not being held to their standard, you are being held to mine, understood?"

There was a silent nod from both of the twins.

Jake could see in their eyes that they didn't truly grasp the notion he was trying to convey. Sighing slightly, he looked between them.

"Don't worry, boys…one day you will understand what I mean…"

Jake paused, and his gaze became more stern and his tone took a more commanding tone.

"But in the meanwhile, you will have to settle for the fact that no sons of mine are going to be spoiled little clan pets, being exempted and saved from work and duty, just because of who their father is…..if I let the clan have their say, they would treat you like royalty, and spoil you.

Jake smiled down at his twin sons, inflecting a mischievous grin into his countenance.

"That's not gonna happen…."

Squeezing his sons' shoulders, he bellowed in his Marine voice.

"Ok, ok, whats all this standing around? I want two laps around the lake!"

Jake took off in a brisk jog, turning his head over his shoulder in time to see Thomas and Eytukan begin to grudgingly run after him.

Jake smiled to himself.

"Oorah…."

Jake led his sons in their laps, watching silently but proudly as their tired faces disappeared under masks of subtle concentration, and never once did they complain, even when Jake increased the pace to an almost run…..they merely increased their speed to match.

By the time they finished the second circuit, Jake was breathing hard, and when they got back to the clearing, he resisted the urge to bend over and put his hands on his knees.

Not as young as we once were, are we?

Jake pushed any thoughts of age and weakness from his mind and turned to his sons, who showed only moderate signs of exertion.

After taking several deep breaths, he walked over to where the boys stood, and slowly he reached behind his back and slowly pulled forth two small knives from his belt.

Both Thomas and Eytukan's eyes lit up and their mouths turned upwards in expectant grins.

Eytukan could not restrain himself for very long.

"Do you mean it, father? We finally get them back?"

Jake grinned very slightly, hoping his sons could not see, and held forth the two knives, both of typical taronyu fashion albeit smaller, bearing a stone blade, and antler handle.

His smile grew as he watched the twins each hesitate then reach forward slowly, as if not believing their luck.

Jake suddenly withdrew the proffered blades, which caused both Eytukan and Thomas to look up at him, slightly shocked and anxious.

Jake's face turned serious, and a reprimanding tone filled his voice. His eyes glinted with authority.

"Now listen here, I'm only giving these back because you're mother thinks you've been punished long enough, and that you both have learned your lessons. But, before I give them back to you, I want you both to promise to go apologize to K'yuut and Dharga again"

Jake paused.

"Are we clear?"

Both twins nodded vigorously, and upon seeing their bobbing heads, Jake once again held forth both knives, which the twins promptly and eagerly snatched from his hands.

Jake chuckled as both Thomas and Eytukan turned over their respective blades in their hands, and holding them somewhat reverently.

In truth, what he had told them was…a bit of a lie. It was actually he who had deemed that they had suffered long enough, and had decided to give them back their knives.

When Neytiri had found out that her twins had almost skewered K'yuut and Dharga, practicing throwing their knives, she had been furious.

Jake had never seen her so angry at their boys before.

Besides various other punishments, she had taken their knives away, and as far as Jake knew had no intentions of letting the boys have them back.

That had been almost a year ago.

Jake had rescued them from Neytiri's clutches and now he deemed that they had learned their lesson, and besides, today he wanted to work on their blade skills, and they couldn't rightfully do that without being armed with a blade themselves.

He watched as each one fondled the blades and tested their edges, making sure they had not been too dulled in their parents keeping.

Jake snapped his fingers twice, effectively snapping the twins out of their indulgent trance, with both looking up at him.

Jake pointed to the knives in each one of their hands.

"I gave those back to you, so that one…..you can learn how to use them properly and safely, so you won't have a repeat incident with them, and two….so that you can learn how to defend yourself with them."

Jake put emphasis on the last few words, and as he did so, he quickly reached behind his back once more and drew forth his own blade, twirling it in his fingers as he brought it out.

Both Thomas and Eytukan's eyes watched their father's every move, watching the full sized, combat knife being deftly wielded with expertise and precision.

Both looked at each other in amazement and then looked back down at their own smaller, primitive blades, before looking back up at their father in awe and wonder.

Thomas grinned at his father, pointing to his knife.

"Father…..when do we get one like yours?"

Jake grinned slightly before shaking his head.

"You will get one of these"

He held up his knife, watching their eyes follow the blade and then pointed at the knife in each of their hands.

"When you learn how to use those properly. End of story."

The twins looked somewhat disappointed at his answer, but they knew he spoke the truth.

They all stood there in silence for several moments, the twins looking down at their own blades, and Jake absent-mindedly testing his blade on the pad of his thumb.

Suddenly, Eytukan looked up at his father, squinting in the early morning sunlight, and pointing at his father's knife.

"Father, is it true that the giant Odo'khal had a blade like yours, only three times as big?"

Jake was caught so off guard by Eytukan's question that his hand slipped and he winced in pain as the blade cut into his thumb.

He looked up at his son, who was looking back at him, somewhat startled at seeing his father's now slightly bleeding finger.

Jake turned his head and silently looked out over the lake, unable to stop the tide of memories that swept over his mind.

It had been nine years since anybody had last seen Odo'khal.

No trace.

No contact.

Nothing.

Twelve years ago, Odo'khal had departed on a journey. He had departed the very morning the twins had been born.

He had claimed that his journey was part of his task and duty to the clan to make sure the clan's vanquished foes had indeed fled back to their far homeland. He had claimed that he would patrol the borders of the clan's land, and that he would serve to help the Plains Horse Clan and the Eastern Sea Clan.

But even then, Jake senses something else flickering in Odo'khal's huge eyes, something that was truly bothering his friend.

Jake remembered back to the serene morning of Odo'khal's departure.

When Jake had bid farewell to Odo'khal, his head had still been thrumming with the profound astonishment that he was now a father, that he now had two twin sons.

So much had been his joy in that event, that he had not paid as much mind to Odo'khal's departure as he should have.

Words had been said, and goodbyes exchanged.

Then, Odo'khal had disappeared into the wilds of the forest, bound for destinations unknown.

Jake had had the presence of mind to make Odo'khal promise to be back within a year's time.

Odo'khal had returned…after two years of absence.

He had reported to Jake all that he had experienced and done.

Jake had listened intently as Odo'khal had described how he had chased the vanquished Kyllteyka all the way to the edge of the wastelands, picking off a few here and there, to make sure they kept running.

For months, Odo'khal had traversed the edges of the desolate lands West of the plains, circumventing to the South of the Great Rocks.

He reported that far in the distance, to the West, he could see great mountains, sticking far up into the sky.

Jake had laughed at the look of dumbfounded awe of Odo'khal's face as the giant had described the mountains. Then Jake remembered that except maybe for some foreign tribe of Na'vi, none of the People had seen mountains before, they were a completely alien and foreign geographical structure compared to jungles and plains.

After a month and a half back at Hometree, Odo'khal had abruptly announced that he was leaving again….heading South and West.

Jake, distracted by his duties as olo'eyktan, and his efforts in raising twin boys, both now two years of age, had prevented him from worrying properly about Odo'khal, and the somewhat suspicious reasoning for his journey.

It was only after Odo'khal had gone; that Jake realized his friend had never said when he would be back.

Three and half years passed.

Jake sent out scouts to the other Clans, in hopes that they would return with news of the giant's whereabouts or at least his last known location.

When the scouts had returned two months later, they bore the news only that Odo'khal had visited both the Plains and Eastern Sea Clans, but had only stayed for a short while to make sure all was well within the respective territories.

Besides those scraps of information, no Na'vi they had questioned had any knowledge of Odo'khal's location and none had seen him for at least two years.

On the very night Su'xra had been born, Jake called F'yukan, Ja'ri, K'yuut and Dharga to his alcove to personally ask them to embark on a search mission to find Odo'khal.

They had gladly and unanimously accepted the task, all of them being good friends of the giant, and all being somewhat worried about him.

For two years, the four best taronyu in the whole of the Omaticaya had followed what trails and scraps of information they could to try and find Odo'khal.

After a year, they had sent Dharga back to Jake to report that the four had made it to the edge of the desolate lands, and had encountered an outlying, but somewhat peaceful, faction of the Kyllteyka.

According to the tribe, a Na'vi fitting the giant stature and description of Odo'khal had been in their village three years ago. He had been a guest of theirs, and had stayed there for a month, learning what he could of the simple tribe, before trekking due West, across the wasteland, towards the monoliths of Sharkush na' Dhun.

After making his report and letting his ikran rest for two days, Dharga had set off once again to meet back up with the others to continue their search.

It wasn't for another year until the taronyu returned, downhearted and empty-handed.

But only three had returned.

They recounted how they had fared on the far Western edge of the wastelands, following footprints they were sure to belong to Odo'khal.

They had followed the prints for two days, flying low to the flat, barren ground, going where the trail led.

Eventually the trail led had led them to a massive gorge.

It was almost like giant claws had scoured the very face of the earth, leaving the giant scar in the ground.

The canyon stretched away into the distance, with rocky protrusions and formations reaching upwards towards the sky.

After noticing that the tracks went down into the canyon, they flew down into the rocky depths, flying as best they could while still following what tracks they could see in the sandy bottom of the canyon floor.

Eventually they had to land to try and figure out where the tracks led to next, as they had mysteriously disappeared.

All four hunters had navigated their ikran down to the canyon floor, landing quietly in the sand.

They had not even had the time to dismount when the whole canyon filled with a cacophony of vicious, heart-stopping roars.

The hunters looked up, and to their horror, saw that all around them on the terraces of rock above them were a dozen or more Palulukan.

Except these creatures were the desert counterparts of their forest relatives.

Dharga had recounted in a somber voice how the creatures were somewhat smaller, leaner, and were hunting in a pack.

It was then that the hunters had come to the crux of their tale.

Six or seven of the creatures had bounded down from the heights, pouncing upon F'yukan and his ikran.

In the violent, thrashing torrent of the attack, F'yukan was thrown into the air with great force.

Acting on years of warrior instincts, the three other hunters had drawn their bows with uncanny speed and had notched shafts, taking careful aim before sending three shafts directly into the eyes of three different Palulukan.

Their attack and the screeching and roaring of the wounded and dying Palulukan had provided enough of a distraction for Ja'ri to jump down off of his ikran and run over to where F'yukan lay.

Ja'ri threw F'yukan over his shoulder and raced as fast as he could back to his irkan, while K'yuut and Dharga sent two more shafts into the crowd of Palulukan that were dismembering F'yukan's ikran in a feeding frenzy.

As soon as Ja'ri had secured F'yukan in front of him, he remade tsahaylu with his terrified ikran, and with a flapping of wings, all three hunters fled the canyon, with the terrifying roars of the frenzied Palulukan driving their ikran on in fear.

It granted them speed.

After they made it up out of the canyon and back into the air, Ja'ri noticed his hands felt moist, and he retracted one of them from where it held F'yukan in place on his ikran.

His hand was covered in dark, red blood.

Ja'ri signaled and shouted for the other two to land, which the other two at first thought was madness, but after seeing the blood on Ja'ri's hands, they understood.

It was only until they had laid F'yukan out upon the ground that they noticed F'yukan desperately clamping both of his hands across his neck, where three long gashes ran.

Blood was oozing from between his fingers.

All three hunters stood there, shocked into silence.

They knew nothing could be done…..

F'yukan looked at them, and in a halting voice, merely asked that his body be taken back to Hometree and for none of them to wish Odo'khal ill because of his death.

After several moments, F'yukans quivering body stopped, his eyes glazed over, and his hands fell from his neck, limp, revealing the true extent of the wounds on his neck.

The three hunters sat there in silence, mourning the sudden and disturbing loss of their friend.

They simply wrapped F'yukan's body into an barkcloth sack and tied it to the back of Ja'ri's ikran.

Three hunters had returned to Hometree.

The clan silently mourned the death of one of the clan's best warriors.

Jake silently mourned the loss of a good friend.

The news of F'yukan's death hit him hard, but like the other losses in his life; he simply locked it down within himself and re-assumed the face and stature of a Marine.

One hunter dead, one still missing.

"Sempul...?"

Thomas's voice brought Jake back from a trance-like state.

He shook his head vigorously, trying to bring himself out of the stupor he had been in…for how long he didn't know.

So many memories and long forgotten thoughts had flashed through his brain so quickly, he almost felt tired, as if the episode had drained him.

He turned to look at his sons, who both were looking at him questioningly, their eyes widened in apprehension.

Thomas reached out a hand to his father.

"Sempul, are you alright?"

Jake's gaze fell on Thomas, and he could see the slight fear in his son's eyes.

Jake's eyes flicked to Eytukan's, and he could see that his other son almost looked guilty, and Jake then knew that Eytukan had some idea of what had gone on inside his father's head, and was feeling bad for having caused such mental turmoil.

Jake opened his mouth to speak, to placate his sons' fears, but a noise stopped him before he could say a word.

Both Thomas and Eytukan looked between each other in confusion, and Jake looked up into the sky, none of them being able to find the source of the gradually increasing sound.

Jake jumped slightly as Eytukan's hand shot up, pointing into the air, while his mouth fell open in shock.

Jake swiveled around to see what his son was pointing at.

Jake's ears pinned back against his head, and he swore as he watched in fearful amazement as for several seconds, an fiery object, traveling extremely fast, rocketed across the sky.

Towards them.

It took Jake almost a full second to realize this, and without hesitation, he grabbed both Thomas and Eytukan by their midriffs and scooped them up into his arms, running as fast as he could towards the lake.

For several seconds, he sprinted, hoping against hope he was going to make it to the water.

When the object impacted, there was a tremendous roar and the shockwave sent Jake flying, but he still held tight to both of his sons.

They hit the ground hard, and before they could move, a wave of heat and sandy debris fell over them.

Jake immediately scrambled in the sand and threw himself over top of his sons, trying to shield them.

For several moments, they lay there as the noise of the impact reverberated across the lake, and sand still rained down on them from above.

The shoreline and the forest returned to its normal, peaceful self, and in a surreal moment, it seemed to Jake almost as if nothing had just happened.

That a giant fireball had not almost terminated both him and his sons.

After sensing that the danger had passed, Jake raised himself to a kneeling position.

He looked down at the twins, who, except for a few scratches and bruises, seemed unscathed.

Jake grabbed each of them by the chin and inspected their face and eyes. After deeming them alright, he stood up fully, pulling Thomas and Eytukan up with him.

All three turned and looked at the shoreline behind them.

The object had impacted, and then skidded across a distance of at least thirty feet, gouging a smoking, blackened line in the sand.

Jake turned and looked down at the twins, motioning with his hands for them to stay there.

Both of the boys looked too shocked still to move.

Jake swiveled on his heel and began to cautiously make his way over to the impact site.

He winced as molten pieces of sand made contact with his feet, but he kept on walking, intensely curious with the object the almost put him and his two sons out of existence.

When Jake finally caught sight of what lay in the smoking, smoldering crater before him, he could almost feel his face drain of color. His body went stock rigid, and his mind screamed out that it couldn't be true, not yet…..

Not enough time….

How…..

Suddenly his mind slammed in to gear, and despite the stomach wrenching fear he felt, his mind became strangely calm.

There wasn't any time to lose.

Plans and protocols had been set into place years ago for this exact moment.

Jake, without further hesitation, reached into the side pouch of his belt and pulled forth his transponder, quickly strapping it to his throat.

He took a deep breath to calm and collect himself.

He depressed the 'talk' button.

"Max? Norm? Do you read me?"

Much to his surprise, Max's voice cut through digital static only a few moments later.

"Yeah, Jake…..we read you."

Jake looked back down at the smoldering, but unscathed hunk of metal lying at the bottom of the crater.

"Yeah. We've got a big fucking problem…."

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><p>AN: For some reason, this chapter just seems to me a little disjointed. It may be because its not my best work, but I sort of want to blame it on listening to Franz Liszt while writing it. Damn, his music is so technical and sometimes overpoweringly awesome, that it comes across almost as schizophrenic and crazy, and I think that insanity leaked into my writing. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy. Please Review. Take it easy.


	4. I, Deception

A/N: So, I have not updated this story in a heinously, unforgivably, morally reprehensible amount of time. To the few people who asked about this story continuing, I promised you I had not forgotten or abandoned it, and hopefully this is the first in many steps to making good on that promise. Thanks, read, and review, please.

* * *

><p><strong>I, Deception<strong>

Being back in Hell's Gate made Jake somewhat uneasy.

Considering the circumstances of his return, Jake thought it completely natural to be apprehensive.

Bringing this…_thing_ to Hell's Gate would be the final verification to everything that he had been fearing for the past twelve years.

Outstanding….

When the airlock opened up, it revealed an already waiting Max Patel, who was standing in the chamber, his exopack on. Upon seeing Jake, he jumped slightly, and slowly, almost as if he was afraid to look, his eyes traveled downward.

Jake could see his own fears, though not as urgent perhaps, mirrored in Max's eyes, which grew large. He apprehensively pointed to the object in Jake's hands.

"Is that it?"

Jake nodded.

Max cursed under his breath and turned, waving Jake into the airlock.

The door to the outside closed, hissing shut behind them, and while they waited for atmospheric re-stabilization to occur, there were several tense moments of silence.

There was nothing to say.

They both knew what the thing was that Jake carried in his hands.

Or they at least knew where it was from.

The one thing they knew for certain is that if the thing was what they thought it was, then all of them were in serious trouble.

Jake tried to calm himself. As much as he didn't want to think about the object in his arms, he couldn't deny its presence, and as the faces of his family swam before his mind, he knew it would do no good trying to act as if everything was normal,…as if his entire world wasn't now teetering on the brink.

There was a melodious 'ding' that signaled the end of the pressurization process, and with a pneumatic hiss, the doors slid open, and once again, Jake stepped out of the airlock into Hell's Gate, stooping as he went.

Max wrenched the exopack off, taking several breaths before looking up at Jake, and pointing down a long, metal hallway.

"The good news, and probably the only good news we'll have for a while, is that Norm is already here….he flew through the night to make it in time."

A small flicker of a smile tugged at Jake's lips and his mind lightened, if only for a moment…..now that was news he could actually be happy about, he thought.

He hadn't seen Norm in over a year, and despite the circumstances, it was always good to see his old friend, and Norm's input was welcome in their current dilemma, as even though Norm tended to be panicky sometimes, his sheer intellectual horsepower would be nothing but help.

Granted, had the auspices under which their meeting was taking place not been so foreboding, Jake would be much more enthusiastic about everything in general.

Jake sighed, thinking that seeing Norm was going to be the only silver lining in all of this…..

They turned one last corner, and there they were, in the main lab. Jake could finally stand straight again, a welcome move with the weight of the object in his arms.

As soon as Jake straightened out his back, he eyes swept across the room and they immediately met those of Norm.

Jake could tell from one glance, that the year that had transpired between them, had been a good one for Norm.

In spite of the fact that his face was now adorned in the creasing and furrows of worry and silent stress, Jake could see the more solid, foundational light of happiness in his eyes and in the more confident way he held himself.

It had been seven years since Norm had transferred his entire consciousness into his avatar, casting aside his human form, and embracing fully his life on Pandora.

In the months following the Battle of New Hometree, Norm had assisted Jake and the Omaticaya in the process of recovering from the Kyllteyka occupation and what damage had been done by Tsu'tey's short, but destructive reign.

All the while, Jake had noticed how close Norm had grown to Var'ya, a huntress of the Eastern Sea Clan.

Jake had heard tell from some of his warriors how Norm had nearly died protecting her in the battle. It was apparent to him where that kind of friendship was heading, and he had watched, waiting for the day.

The day came, and Jake had known from Norm's nervousness, what Norm had wanted to talk to him about.

Norm, just as Jake had predicted, wanted to go with Var'ya, and live for some time with her people, and learn to become a taronyu, just as Jake had, but with her people of the Eastern Sea Clan.

Jake had reminded Norm, that he was in no way shape or form, under Jake's authority, and therefore free to do as he pleased.

The next few years, Norm spent with Var'ya as emissaries of the Eastern Sea Clan, traveling around to other smaller tribes. Norm spent the time, dutifully fulfilling his role as a scientist and studied the cultures of the different Na'vi tribes he met.

Even though Norm had explicitly detailed his desire to Jake to one day merge into his avatar, Jake had known even then, that he wasn't quite ready to do so….Jake had reflected that he himself had had sufficient motivation to undergo the transfer, and therefore deduced that Norm had simply not yetencountered that reason, that motivation…..that thing in his life that would push him to make that final move.

Jake knew, that in time, Norm would encounter reason enough for him to make the switch.

And Norm had come face to face with that reason. The same reason that had made Jake so determined to undergo the transfer.

Norm had shown up back at Hometree one night, flying in on an ikran, accompanied with three taronyu of the Eastern Sea Clan.

Norm was and is much loved by the Omaticaya, and so when they had seen him flying in on his own ikran, they whooped, hollered, chanted, and cheered their congratulations at him becoming a ikran makto and a taronyu.

Jake had been happy for him, but it had also been apparent to Jake that something was definitely wrong with his old friend.

Of course, as Jake had predicted, Norm didn't want to talk about it…or anything for that matter. The normally outgoing scientist didn't want to talk about any of his new discoveries, finds or research he had done.

Jake knew there was only one thing that could have so thoroughly depressed Norm's personality.

Something had happened between him and Var'ya.

Jake knew at that time that nothing had transpired between Norm and Var'ya, and that they, despite the obvious bond between them, remained close friends. Therefore, Jake was slightly confused as to what had happened, if they were never 'together' to begin with…..

Norm had simply stated that he wanted to live at New Hometree for a little while.

Several months passed, and Norm had assumed the life of a taronyu amongst the Omaticaya.

Jake eventually surmised through hints and well founded guesses, that Var'ya had, in some fashion, expressed some form of 'other-than-friendship' sentiment to Norm after he had become an ikran makto. To which Norm responded, by freezing up or neglecting to say anything, which had caused Var'ya to think she had been mistaken in assuming that Norm felt similar to her.

She left on a trip to visit a distant tribe, fleeing his presence.

Norm…confused, ashamed, regretful, and sad, had made his way back to Jake and the Omaticaya.

Jake offered and gave what help and encouragement he could give, but he wisely kept his thoughts to himself, knowing from personal experience how complicated and confusing falling in love with a Na'vi huntress was….

Then, one night that had been wracked by the winds and rain of a monsoon-like storm, three ikran makto of the Eastern Sea Clan, had ridden in, soaked and frantic.

They demanded to speak with Norm Spellman…immediately.

Jake had watched as the color drained from Norm's face as they detailed to them how Var'ya had taken a fall from her ikran, at the edge of the cliffs, and had fallen into the crashing waves of the sea below.

The waves had smacked her into the rocks of the seaward cliff face, and had knocked her unconscious. She was alive, but she was in a coma-like state, and had not yet woken.

Jake at that point, had never seen Norm's face so worried, yet coldly determined at the same time. It suddenly dawned on him what Norm was about to do.

Jake knew now that this would be all the reason Norm needed…..

Norm had immediately turned to Moat and asked politely yet firmly and insistently if they could promptly travel to the Tree of Souls and attempt to transfer him completely and permanently into his avatar.

The transfer was a success.

After burying his human body, Norm and Jake had flown out of Hometree with all the speed they could muster. They made the flight to the Eastern Sea in record time and both of their ikran had been pushed to the breaking point.

Jake couldn't let up, he had to keep up with Norm, to be ready to assist his friend in any way he could, should the need arise in this trying experience.

Norm had stayed by Var'ya's side, and when she did finally wake, a week later, Jake could see the obvious love and affection for one another corrode right through the layer of shame and embarrassment that had come between them.

Jake had done his duty to Norm and therefore took his leave to return back to Hometree, where his family awaited.

It came to no surprise to Jake, when Norm and Var'ya showed up at Hometree for a visit, months later, that they were no longer as friends, but mates.

It also came as no surprise, but definitely to his pleasure, when, five years ago, Norm had come to him, detailing to him the birth of his daughter, Sri'yan.

Jake had been officially dubbed an uncle to this child, an arrangement he couldn't be more pleased with.

So it came to no surprise to Jake, now, even with all the dread hanging in the room, that Norm seemed, at his core, happy and content.

Having a family will do that to a man…

"Fancy seeing you here….how's my beautiful little niece?"

Norm gave a small smile, and crossed the distance between them, stopping short as he realized he could not embrace Jake fully, because of the fact that Jake's arms were full.

He looked back up at Jake, still smiling slightly.

"She's growing like a weed, and she never stops asking questions. Relentless pursuit of knowledge, at the tender age of five."

Jake smiled back at Norm, rolling his eyes.

"Gee, I wonder where she gets that from….."

They shared a small laugh, but eventually the silence resumed and the gravity of the situation brought their mirth to an end.

Jake nodded to Norm, trying to exude some form of confidence and composure in the gesture and to convey it to Norm, who looked suddenly very tired and very worried.

It was then that the dreadful moment came, and everyone's undivided attention was drawn to the hunk of metal that Jake carried.

Norm's eyes lost their twinkle as they flicked from Jake's down to the object he held.

Jake stared at Norm, who was studying the object, and Jake was not pleased to see the color slowly start to drain from Norm's face, and his expression go from one of anxious curiosity to one more resembling stoic resignation.

Norm beckoned for Jake to bring the object over to the examination table, and he helped Jake to carefully lower it down.

There was a solid 'clink' as friction blasted steel met the burnished aluminum table.

In the ominous silence that hung in the air, the sound seemed to resound in a most unnatural fashion.

As Norm reached out to touch the object, a small, red light came on and began to blink.

The silence only seemed to intensify, and it seemed all the more drastic when Jake broke it.

"Shit….that can't be good."

About three feet in diameter, spherical in shape, and blackened from its descent through Pandora's atmosphere, the object's intricate and active mechanical structure could be seen through the opaque patina of friction and cosmic detritus.

The blinking red light maintained its silent rhythm.

Norm turned away from the object and looked back at Jake, and Jake couldn't help but inwardly groan as he caught Norm's eyes. He could tell that Norm knew what this thing was, and that it was bad…..real bad.

Norm pointed over his shoulder at the object.

"You know what this is, don't you?"

His voice carried a slight note of harried incredulity to it.

Jake sighed deeply and shrugged in a fatalistic manner, shaking his head.

Norm turned to look between Max and Jake, all the while jabbing his finger towards the object.

"This." He pointed violently.

"This is the physical manifestation of the proverbial shit hitting the fan."

Silence…Norm pointed again.

"Guys…..this is a PCP probe!"

Jake had no idea what that was, but obviously Max did, because he immediately stood up from where he had been leaning against the wall and rushed over to the object, stooping over it and inspecting it with more scrutiny.

Jake felt he might as well get his education over with.

"A what…?"

The other two looked at him somewhat shocked, but Max rushed to explain, seeing the genuine look of confusion on Jake's face.

"PCP probe, Jake…..Planetary Control and Protocol probe. "

Max paused to let his words sink in, but seeing that Jake was still a little lost, he continued.

He pointed at the probe.

"Basically, this thing is Hell's Gate in miniature form. This little bastard can act as a mobile command and control center, sending and routing signals and electronic commands on an entire planet. You can have almost full control over what kind of ground assets you have on a planet's surface without having to worry about building a command center structure, cosmic storms disrupting satellite signals, or other natural variables."

Jake looked down at the probe, before looking back up at Max and Norm, his eyes going between them.

"So this thing is a mobile command center…"

Max nodded.

Jake's face grew grim as he ran his fingers over the blackened frame of the probe, his eyes darkening with fear.

"You know what this means, don't you, guys?"

Norm looked at him, his own eyes clouded in silent dread and apprehension.

"They're coming…"

Jake nodded silently, without looking at Norm, and he sighed slightly before continuing.

"We had something similar to this back in Force Recon…..before a particularly heinous op, a drone would drop a couple of these around the coordinates of the sector our LZ was in. These little automated computers would whir to life and start relaying information to us before we even hit the ground. Sometimes, they would re-activate automated gun-turrets, and re-coordinate drones that had been captured to fly back to friendly lines. They basically could coordinate our strategy before our boots ever got dirty. They act as a forward initiative…..readying the field, before you ever even arrive….."

Jake paused. There was a dead silence pervading the room. They were too oppressed by the weight of the truth that bore down on them.

Max's voice slowly rose through the silence, carrying an almost annoyed tone to it.

"Well, I'd say that if they launched these, then that means they can't be far out, does it? Who knows how long they've been monitoring satellite communications, because if they've launched these probes, then that means they know we have control of the satellites….otherwise they would have just hijacked the satellites to do the same job as these probes do."

Jake stared at the probe, hoping he could convince himself it wasn't really there….but it remained. He looked down at Max.

"But they have launched these probes…..so that means they are preparing the field, readying whatever ground assets they can muster for their arrival."

Max visibly swallowed at Jake's words, but he tilted his head, as if thinking, and then the slightest bit of a cockeyed smile crept onto his face.

"The only good news, is that we know they can't be really close, or otherwise they would have blasted the satellites into oblivion to jam our communications, or the Near Space Radar would have picked them up…..you can't hide the radio signature of an ISV."

Suddenly, the blinking, red light on the probe became a solid shade of green.

Jake pointed to the change in the light.

"What the hell just happened? It turned green, and stopped blinking?"

Norm's eyes grew big as he looked back and forth between Jake and Max before looking back down at the probe.

"It's locked onto a signal…..it's communicating."

Max sighed, letting all the air out of himself in a frustrated exhalation.

"Its communicating…..with what?"

Norm looked down at him, his golden eyes widening in incredulity at his friends exasperated question. He pointed down at the probe.

"They launch these probes in waves…..there are probably dozens of these things that have crashed into Pandora within the last 24 hours, and they are all probably trying to remotely reboot all systems here at Hell's Gate, to get this place operational again…..put out the welcome mat, so to speak."

Max's exasperated expression turned into a scowl of confusion.

"But we changed all of the protocols and passwords for Hell's Gate…it's on an entirely different system now, these probes wouldn't be able to do jack shit to this place…."

Jake crossed his arms and nodded, looking down at Max, his gaze imperious yet questioning.

"Ok, if that is true, and they can't access the mainframe here at Hell's Gate, and they are not talking to each other, then what…..or who is this little shitbrick carrying on a binary conversation with."

There was a short silence as both Norm and Max considered his question, and after a few moments and a shared glance, they turned back to Jake. Max spoke first.

"There are only two options, that probe is either signaling back to whatever vessel launched it, or its communicating with something more local, something here on the ground….."

Jake's eyes slowly grew wide as the tail end of Max's statement formed a coherent set of scenarios in his head, and he grimaced, realizing what might be happening. When he spoke, his voice was heavy, as if he was hesitant to let the words escape from the confines on his mind.

"That again leaves only two possible conclusions, neither of which bears thinking about. One is that whatever ISV is on its way is a hell of a lot closer than we think, or we've not been alone for the past twelve years."

Max's face morphed into a countenance of dawning comprehension.

"But that means…"

Jake smiled a rueful, stoic grin, pointing down at Max.

"That's right…...there is another active electronic presence on this moon with us…..and last time I checked the Na'vi hadn't conquered basic metallurgy yet, much less the controlled manipulation of electrons…."

Jake's words hung in the air for a few moments, all three of them digesting the words, and their rather disconcerting ramifications.

Norm's voice broke the silence in a tone that was not only shocked but also carried with it a note of self-reprimand.

"That would mean that for twelve years, the chess board has been set, and the pieces in place, and we let them have the first move."

Jake didn't need explaining to understand Norm's analogy and what he meant by it. Jake grimaced as if Norm's words and the truth they bore had been an actual physical pain.

They had let them have the first move. They had let their guard down, and lived their lives, submerged in their own inner struggles and triumphs, not thinking to look beyond their borders for a threat they thought had been defeated.

Max piped up, his voice inflated with a sense of transparent hope.

"It could be some kind of overlooked automated system, or some sort of forgotten power grid, somewhere…it could be something less sinister than we are imagining it to be, it could be something as small as a power substation….there has been a human presence of this moon for about the last fifty years, so it could be something left over from before they built Hell's Gate."

Jake knew Max was only trying to stave off the sense of dread and ominous certainty they all felt. Not wanting to be a source of negativity, he bit back his statement which would point out to Max, that even if his theory was true, and the probe was only communicating with vestigial elements of human technology, the fact still remained that the probe's very presence before them was not by chance…. …..the fact still remained that there was only reason why this probe would ever enter Pandora's atmosphere.

Invasion….

The thought had been present in Jake's mind as soon as he had laid eyes upon the probe, as it had lain blackened and smoldering in a sandy crater.

Now the thought collided with other anxious notions, creating a turbid cloud of emotions that swirled around inside his head, darkening his mind.

Norm suddenly stood upright from where he had been stooping over the object, and he looked between Max and Jake, his face a picture of frustration. He walked over to the probe, and gently ran his long, blue fingers over the surface, following the edges and contour of the metal that had been somewhat deformed by the brute friction of falling through the atmosphere.

He then stepped back a moment, cupping his own chin in his hand, still staring down at the probe, apparently thinking. After a few moments, he shrugged, looking down at Max.

"The only thing we can do now is to go to the Control Room and try to trace the signals coming to and leaving this probe."

Max nodded and then was out of the room like a shot before Norm or Jake could utter another word, bolting down the fluorescently lit halls to the Control Room.

Jake walked over to the probe, reaching down and lifting the blackened metal globe into his arms, and he followed Max's path as quickly as he could, all the while with the probe's light bathing the close confines of the corridors in an austere, green light.

Max's finger strokes on the keyboard he wielded were fluid and deft, while his eyes never left the screen, only flicking to and fro, processing the lines of code displayed before him.

Jake only squinted at all the jumbled symbols, feeling a certain sector of his brain revolt at his attempt to try to decipher, even in the slightest, what Max was trying to do.

Max seemed to be able to sense Jake's confusion, and he shook his head slightly, a small, smug smile creeping onto his face.

"Don't even try, Jake….after we got rid of Selfridge and all of the other RDA mob, I spent at least the next two and a half years, learning the code…..learning the system, its strengths and its weaknesses."

He paused for a moment, rotating his wrists, stretching them out, before returning to his galloping keystrokes.

"And then I rewrote the system the way I wanted it…..."

He paused again, his concentration interrupting his words. He leaned in closer to the screen, and small beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

"Just as well…..I know I'm not the only one who knew the military, but primarily the RDA weren't going to just leave us alone…..so I began as soon as I could, changing administrative protocols, access codes, the security codes, the firewall ports….basically I stripped the whole system down to its foundation and rebuilt it, and taught it how to run more efficiently and more contained, more secure."

It was Jake's turn to shake his head, and he smiled, giving Max a seemingly gentle slap on the back, which nearly knocked Max forward into his monitor, but Jake paid no mind.

"That is what I like to hear…so, basically they won't be able to hijack the system remotely will they?"

Max paused for a second, still slightly recovering from Jake's 'pat' on the back, but he still smiled up at Jake, pointing at the screen.

"I personally removed the major backdoors that were built into the system…..sure, the whole mainframe can't do as much as it did before, it would make it too unstable, but at the same time, we don't need it to do all the stuff the RDA used it for…and without those backdoors, they will have to get the access codes directly from me, or they will have to personally be here, and even then, without my administrative codes, I don't think they would be able to hack into the system in less than 72 hours."

Max turned back to the screen, and his eyes immediately focused in on something, and even Jake noticed the screen had changed.

It had gone from the seemingly incoherent tapestry of code of a command prompt and had begun to execute an unknown program.

Suddenly, a small rectangular window popped up in the upper left of the screen, and within was a swirling line of numbers, almost like a countdown clock, except moving at 10 digits a second.

Max's eyes grew big, and he stopped typing to point to the screen.

"The system has found the signal being transmitted from the probe…..it's trying to decipher the signal as we speak."

They all stood there in silence for several minutes, fervently watching the numbers change at lightning speed, waiting…

Slowly, one by one, the trace program locked in each number in the seven digit encryption. When the seventh digit halted, a window popped up, asking for permission to run a GPS trace, and if the user wanted to display the signal command transcription.

Max, almost hesitantly, hit a key, and while his screen changed to display the command transcription, the hologram generator blared to life in the center of the control room.

There several seconds of flickering light, and then out of thin air, the generator formed an incandescent, green depiction of Pandora.

Both Norm and Jake moved over the hologram, their eyes transfixed on a red point on the holographic globe.

A small rectangular tag appeared next to the red point:

"CURRENT LOCATION: HELL'S GATE"

Jake took a few seconds to register a thought that had not occurred to him before in his time on Pandora. Where on the moon were Hometree and Hell's Gate? Where in geographical terms was his life taking place?

The tag was centered over the red point, which was fixed nearly at the center of a significantly sized continental mass situated just South of Pandora's equatorial line.

All three almost jumped as a yellow line began to extend across the display, originating from the point of Hell's Gate, and slowly marking its trajectory.

North.

Finally after following the curvature of Pandora ever northward, the line stopped just short of the northern pole.

Max jumped from his chair, pointing across the room at the line on the hologram.

"That's it, that's where the signal is coming from! That's what the probe…and by the looks of other signals I'm picking up, other probes are communicating with."

Jake looked away from Max, turning back to the hologram, following the display with his eyes, as Norm moved to the control panel, twisting dials, causing the display to twist on its axis and zoom in.

The globe in its entirety disappeared, as Norm zeroed in on the most northern sector.

Jake watched as the digital rendering of the landscape came to life, and he was slightly shocked to see the landfalls and jagged topographical lines most reminiscent of a landscape full of volcanic activity. Norm shifted sectors, and Jake was not surprised to the see the satellite images included a trail of smoke, being indicative of a nearby culdera.

He turned to Norm to see if was seeing the same thing, but Norm's focus was such that he didn't catch Jake's eye, and slowly Jake turned back to the display.

Norm slowed down the zoom, taking time to zero in his magnification in reference to the yellow line that led the way to nexus of the all the probes' signaling activity.

The satellite images skittered and shifted as Norm zoomed in and moved his view farther and farther along the trajectory of the line.

When the line ended at a point demarcated in red, there was no room left for doubt as the landscape image refined itself to reveal organized points of lights and the lines and patterns indicative of advanced human settlement.

The aerial view proffered to them a glimpse of an entire settlement complex they had had never known existed on Pandora.

Jake stood up and crossed his arms, his eyes never leaving the images displayed before him. His voice came out stoic yet calm.

"Do either of you ever remember hearing about a base…or any other sort of settlement on Pandora, other than Hell's Gate".

Both Norm and Max shook their heads, their gazes affixed to the display as well.

Jake shuffled and spoke again.

"Then I can only assume that most personnel knew nothing of this either, and that only higher-ups like Selfridge or maybe Quaritch knew about it….but why would they want to keep it secret…..and how could they keep it secret from all the people monitoring transmissions and signals across the entire planet?"

There was a silence as all three pondered any sort of possible answer to the questions Jake had proposed and many other, unvoiced ones lurking in their minds.

Max stared into the display as he spoke.

"I have a theory….."

Max glanced sidelong as Jake and Norm's gazes snapped in his direction with an almost audible force.

He closed his eyes and sighed, his hands coming up to cover up his face.

"I think….." He began.

"I think…that these structures we are seeing must be some sort of secret facility, and that the entire place runs on an entirely different signal frequency than Hell's Gate. With its transmissions being encoded differently, then none of the technicians running Hell's Gate would have noticed them, as they were only monitoring transmissions and signals on their own, pre-defined frequency band. We could possibly be looking at a base that was built before Hell's Gate."

He took his hands away from his face and was not surprised to see looks of confusion on the faces of Jake and Norm, whose huge, golden eyes bulged in anticipation as they anxiously awaited his next words, craving his explanation.

Max looked back towards the display and crossed his arms across his chest.

"You see, construction of Hell's Gate was not commenced until the third manned mission to Pandora. However, the first two missions were completely outfitted and stocked for the construction of a settlement and requisite structures and facilities necessary to sustain a human presence on Pandora."

Max paused, his brow creased in obvious concentration.

"One could infer that the materials brought on the first and second missions were used to build something else other than Hell's Gate…..and the full reports on RDA activity during those first and second missions are classified. Not to mention, preliminary assessments would imply that the best location to build a first settlement would be near the Northern Pole, where there is a lot of geothermal activity, and the resulting energy can be utilized to power facilities almost indefinitely."

Max stopped and looked between Jake and Norm, hoping his explanation was making sense.

"If you think about it, they had to have a base that could power itself and be self sufficient to a degree. There was no set schedule as to the frequency of visits to Pandora, and the future of human presence on the moon was not nearly as certain due to the fact that they didn't know how much unobtanium resided in the Southern part of the planet….i.e. here. They knew they wanted a presence here to research the possibility of unobtanium on the moon, but they didn't know what they would find…."

Max made small grunts of concentration as he continued

"When they found out about how much more unobtanium there was in the Southern reaches, they must have scrapped the Northern base and refocused their efforts in the third mission to build a base of operations much closer to the unobtanium mines."

Jake considered Max's words in silence, and a silence fell between the three of them. But Jake did not stay silent.

His eyes widened and he remembered something, his voice coming out as only a whisper, as if unsure of its own assertion.

"The Valkyrie Shuttle…".

Max's eyes darted to and fro in confusion before his face lit up in recognition of Jake's meaning. With that, he darted from where he leaned against the display module to behind the computer terminal Norm had been operating.

Norm jumped out of the way, trying to give his friend room, needing no explanation as he could clearly see that Max and Jake were on to something.

Jake leaned on the display module and then looked over at Max, who didn't bother to look up but still felt Jake's gaze upon him.

"I know what you're thinking Jake, and I'm checking the flight trajectory of the Valkyrie Shuttle from the day it left Hell's Gate. I just hope to Christ the system kept that information in here all these years."

Jake nodded, but felt too good about this lead.

"The Hell's Gate mainframe kept a log of all flight trajectories of all aircraft that went in and out, from the Sampsons to the Valkyrie Shuttle."

"Bingo!"

Max's shout rang throughout the room, and his hands shot up in the air in victory. He looked up to Jake and then pointed it at the screen.

Norm sighed and gave in to his impatience.

"Why are we so concerned with the flight path of the Shuttle after it took off with Selfridge and all the other RDA bastards on it? They went back to orbiting ISV, didn't they?"

Jake eyes tore from the screen of Max's terminal to fix onto Norm's.

"Don't you see? They eventually went back to the ISV, and maybe some of them left…but don't you think if they were about to abandon the planet, they would go make a stop at the other base to pick up any other personnel before hitting the long trail for Earth?"

Norm smacked his head with his hand in realization, his long blue fingers dragging down his face as he grudgingly admitted to himself that he didn't the obvious implactions of what Jake was saying.

Jake's eyes whipped back to Max and the computer screen, when a digital voice issued an audible:

"ACCESS DENIED/IMPROPER SECURITY CLEARANCE"

Max's face contorted in frustration.

"Shit! I was afraid that was going to happen"

Jake shifted back over, bending down and looking over Max's shoulder.

"What's the matter? What happened?"

Max threw his hands up slightly in bewilderment, before returning his fingers to the keys, stroking away in evident effort. His voice came out slightly strained.

"I almost had it. I followed links from the flight path of the Valkyrie to this north base, and the waypoint had a tag attached to it, which said Muspelheim. Apparently, that's what they called this facility. Anyway, I ran several searched through the system to try and catch that name mentioned. Lo and behold a couple of dozen results came back to me, all of them level 6 classified. On a whim, I tried to access one of them. One of them I got into, but all but certain words in this document, which looked to be a energy manifest for this facility, had been blacked out. So I tried to access another file, and was met by this lovely roadblock."

Jake inwardly smiled at Max's tenacity and fluency in this digital maelstrom of confusion and misinformation they were wading through.

Norm suddenly spoke up, and Jake and Max turned to look at him. Norm was standing with his arms crossed across his chest, and his eyes were dull with barely subdued anxiety.

"Sounds like to me that they will use this 'Muspelheim' base as a staging point to retake the planet…they have to know that we've taken steps against their return here, and that our efforts could dismantle their entire re-colonization."

Jake interrupted with a small bark of laughter, raising his finger to point out.

"You mean invasion"

Norm smiled a joyless smile and nodded before continuing.

"If that can be assumed, then they will most likely use Muspelheim as the base until they can make the jaunt down south to wipe us out and retake Hell's Gate."

Jake tilted his head, a curious look of questioning on his face.

"If dig in at a base 3,000km away, then what position will we be to expel them from there, while they can sit back and lob varying bits of massively destructive ordnance at us from the comfort of a control room."

Norm's eyes bored into Jake's with his next words.

"Jake, you of all people KNOW that's what they are going to do…there was never any doubt that they would be back, and there was never any doubt that the second contact would be anything but hostile…..they're going to snipe us with cruise missiles from across the planet."

Jake sighed, shook his head, and looked down at his feet, seemingly speaking to them rather than to his friends.

"You're absolutely right Norm, you're absolutely right. "

His head rose and his eyes met those of Max and Norm, shifting between them.

"I always knew theyd be back….and Id always knew it would be sooner than I expected it to be. I mean, we've taken certain steps and made various preparations for this exact moment, but by and large, I've been denying the shit out this reality for the last 12 years. Living my new life and being clan leader, not to mention a father and having a family, it was incredibly easy to suppress the reality of the situation…..which was that there was never any doubt they'd be back."

He paused, and Norm could see a transformation taking place on Jake's face. He could see certain contours and wrinkles in the brow tightening up to form the countenance of the Marine he knew Jake to be in times of trouble.

Jake's face now stood resolute, and it was apparent to Max and Norm that he had come to some conclusion, and he was about to do something and could not be shaken from the idea.

"We have to destroy it before they get here…."

Max opened his mouth to question Jake's meaning, but Norm got there first.

"You took the words right out of my mouth…but how? Its on the other side of the planet? And to bring up a truly terrifying fact….but whatever ISV is on the way can't be farther than a 40 days out. That's not a lot of time to get to that base, dismantle it and come back in time to defend our homes and families."

At Norm's words, a jolt of doubt tore through Jake's mind, and the thought of leaving his family with the approach a RDA invasion force looming on the horizon literally caused him to feel physically ill. How could he do anything of the sort?

Then the mental tactician within him caught up to his emotions, and brought in clear focus the ingeniousness of his plan. He looked at Norm, and the smallest of smiles crept onto his face.

"That's the beauty of it…..if we do this right, then we can make the RDA forget all about the Omaticaya and Hometree."

Norm's ears twisted and flattened slightly in confusion. He thought he had understood Jake's plan to destroy the Muspelheim base, but apparently he had missed a few of the finer points.

Jake saw Norm's confusion and continued, but not without recognizing the look of recognition of Max's face.

"Their focus will be on Muspelheim anyway, as you said yourself, it will be their anticipated port of entry to Pandora. If we let them know we're there, and what are intentions are, all of their attention will be focused on us, giving our families enough time to make it safe havens if need be."

Norm swallowed at the fatalistic tone in Jake's voice, and noted how seriously grave their situation had become as their conversation progressed. The implications of Jake's words sunk in and Norm spoke up, his voice slightly hollow.

"You mean….we're the bait"

Jake's gaze was grim and he silent several moments before answering.

"Exactly….."

He was proud to see Norm's face tighten in determination. He knew the exact thoughts crossing his friends mind because they were the same ones that occupied his own. Mainly, that he would do whatever it took to keep his family safe and free, even if that meant putting himself on a trajectory with a clear intersection with mortal peril.

A loud alert sounded in the control room, and the display switched from satellite images of the Muspelheim base to the radar screen, where a green blip moved rapidly across the screen towards Hell's Gate.

All three stared at the screen in fear, before Max sprang to action and assumed his battle station behind the terminal. A few keystrokes later, and the alarm had cut off, and a new message flashed across his screen and the larger display.

"AUTO PILOT ENGAGED

CREW MANIFEST/LOG: 0"

Max saw this and his sweaty face broke out into a relieved grin and he turned to the other two, chuckling slightly as they stared back at him, questioning how he could smile at the incoming threat.

"Cinderellas, your carriage has come to take you to the ball….."

* * *

><p>AN: Hope you liked it, the first half of that chapter has been sitting unfinished since the last update, in other words, a long ass time ago. I had no idea where I wanted the story to go, but now the creative juices are flowing again, and the spark of life is being breathed back into this plotline. Read and review please, it really helps me to get motivated about my writing. Take it easy.


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